Below are the last couple of assignments in my photoshop class. I made these in less than an hour for a class example to get the students started. Wow, it was pretty refreshing to make something so quickly and not brain myself to death over it. Watching my students work, I see myself in them, wanting to make a Magnum Opus in every little thing we do. Doing these exercises was a reminder to let loose, break free and not be afraid to mess up. I had a professor in graduate school, Bill Willis, who taught me, "What's another word for "shit?" I scrambled to come up with different iterations of the word - crap, poop, excrement, dung. . . . "Manure," he said. "What does manure do? It helps things to grow, gives nourishment. You have to make the shitty drawings in order to make the great ones too."What can you come up with in an hour??

On a recent Sunday afternoon I joined a gathering of about fifteen women crowded in a small Houston apartment living room. A crystal workshop was underway. There was one other girl who was about my age but the rest of them were in their 40s- 70s. We all brought at least one mineral or semiprecious stone with which to study and learn new uses. J u s t S o m e T h o u g h t s . . . ..Why are people drawn to crystals, precious stones and metals? Why have kings/queens, religious leaders throughout the ages worn a crown of gold inlayed with luscious ruby, beaming amethyst, pearls, diamonds and fabric veils with threads of gold? What about these treasures is so special and useful?In addition to showing status, I believe (though I am no expert) these beautiful and precious stones allowed some intuitive power, perhaps some protection from either physical threat or psychic threat.Maybe atomically their make-up is what gives the wearer a sense of grounding, a connection to this earth. Gems/minerals have a specific anatomical or molecular make up that can mirror or express certain divine/natural proportions--see an example of the golden ratio.In other words, these lovely materials found throughout the earth get their shape by the ordered arrangements of particles in their makeup. For example, a diamond - in its very hard state, hardest on Earth - has the same atomic make up as soft graphite. A diamond is the most atomically perfect substance on the planet. In the ancient Greek language, diamond, ἀδάμας – adámas translates to "unbreakable". A material that is unbreakable would certainly be valuable....we use kimberlite (diamond) to cut through most materials...on Earth and in outer space.

Of the exotic and beautiful stones brought in by these women, one of them brought an alluring, rather large cool-grey/smokey-colored, melted glass looking chunk of matter. This thing was about the size of a large shoebox, and it was incredibly heavy; like holding a small suitcase full of magazines. The large stone looked like kryptonite, but grey, not green. Its other worldliness was apparent; it did not resemble anything I've seen. The rock's owner told us the story as to how it came into her life. The stone had a $5,000 price tag in a rock/gem/crystal store. She said "um, no, I can't spend that," and left. Several months later the owner called her out of blue and told her that rock had to be hers. They worked up a payment plan for half the original amount. Not too long later he called letting her know his shop was closing. The rock had to be hers, he pressed on, so he asked for enough money to ship the rock to her and for less than $300 it was hers. She later learned that its provenance was from outer space.

Pet Rocks.﻿This got me thinking about objects which are not created here on our planet, but ones that fall from the sky. It had never occurred to me that not all of the things we see in our environment come from this local place of planet Earth. It was then that it truly, truly dawned on me (ahem, reminded me) that we are living within a wider context than just this planet.. . . . Well, I guess I need to sign up on NASA's newsletter to get my facts down.NASA says extraterrestrial materials fall to Earth at a rate of several hundred tons per day.

I should also probably check out what those folks at SpaceX are up to too. It just seems crazy to me that one day very soon, it will be available, and perhaps quite normal, that humans will leave this humble space rock for whatever the hell is out there in the heavens.